Amazon Fire TV Stick now available in the UK With Strange Price Points

Streaming media is 100% the way forward in life, the demise of the DVD for most people is a welcomed one as more and more service providers release stand alone hardware to allow you to stream media content from various sources.

In the UK we have always been left behind in the hardware sense by Roku, Apple and Google who are the major leaders in this field. Today sees the introduction of a third major player in Amazon who, after waiting almost a year, are releasing their Amazon Fire TV Stick.

The stick itself is priced at £35 and will ship from the 15th of April 2015 though that price point will drop to £19 for existing Amazon Prime members and £7 (wtf) for new Amazon Prime subscribers for just two days (starting today). Sadly though, if you want the remote you’re still gonna have to pay £24.99 for it.

I have reached out to Amazon to query the pricing which seems a little off to me and will update this post and our social media when I get a response.

Amazon Fire TV Stick Now Available in the UK: The Most Powerful Streaming Media Stick Brings Popular Films and TV Shows to your HDTV—just £35

Powerful hardware—dual-core processor, 2x the memory of Chromecast, dual-band, dual-antenna (MIMO) Wi-Fi, and exclusive features like ASAP for instant streaming

Vast selection of the most popular video and music services, including Prime Instant Video, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Sky News, Demand 5, YouTube.com, Spotify and more for access to shows like Transparent, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, and The Wire—plus a great selection of films and TV episodes to rent or buy from Amazon Instant Video

Best of both worlds: included remote control means simple and easy navigation, plus you can use your compatible phone as a remote with the free Fire TV Remote app for iOS and Android that includes voice search

The number of video services and games on Amazon Fire TV in the UK has doubled in just seven months, with more being added every week

For two days only: Amazon Prime members get Fire TV Stick for only £19; customers who aren’t yet Prime members can sign up for a new annual Amazon Prime membership and get Fire TV Stick for just £7 after a refund

Luxembourg—24th March, 2015—Less than seven months ago, Amazon introduced Amazon Fire TV in the UK—and it quickly became the #1 streaming media box on Amazon.co.uk. Today, Amazon is bringing the same experience customers love about Amazon Fire TV—ease of use, great performance, and vast selection—to a smaller and even more affordable device. Introducing Fire TV Stick, a small stick that connects to the HDMI port on your HDTV for easy access to movies, TV shows, music, photos, apps, and games. Fire TV Stick is available to pre-order for just £35 starting today at www.amazon.co.uk/firetvstick and will ship on 15th April. For two days only, Amazon Prime members can order Fire TV Stick for only £19; customers who are new to Prime can sign up for a new annual membership and get Fire TV Stick for just £7 after a refund.

“When we launched Amazon Fire TV in the UK last September, it quickly became our fastest-selling Amazon device,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO. “We’re excited to introduce Fire TV Stick in the UK. Fire TV Stick is the most powerful streaming media stick available, with a dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of storage, dual-band and dual-antenna Wi-Fi, included remote control, voice search with our free mobile app, and an open ecosystem. The team has packed a huge amount of power and selection into an incredible price point—Fire TV Stick is just £35.”

Here’s what reviewers in the U.S. are saying about Fire TV Stick:

- “The streaming TV gadget is faster, with more memory and storage than the competition. It also comes with a remote control, and the app even lets you speak to search for shows.” – CNN Money

- “Turn any TV into a smart TV by plugging this tiny device in to your TV's HDMI port to quickly and easily stream content. Consider it the final nail in the coffins of DVDs, CDs, and other plastic bric-a-brac clogging up your entertainment center.” – Entertainment Weekly

- “…the interface, speed of the device and its integration with stuff like Amazon Music and Amazon's photo stuff makes it a really compelling offering. In my limited time with the Amazon Streaming Stick, I've found it to be faster than both the Chromecast and the Roku Streaming Stick.” – Mashable

- "It's an ideal media streamer for Amazon Prime members, and even if you don't subscribe to the online retailer's catch-all premium service it still offers a compelling selection of apps and features, earning it our Editors' Choice.” – PC Magazine

Fire TV Stick delivers easy access to a vast selection of content, including the most popular streaming and catch-up services such as Prime Instant Video, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, BBC News, BBC Sport, Sky News, Curzon Home Cinema, STV Player and more. The number of video services and games available on Amazon Fire TV in Europe has doubled in just seven months, with more services and games being added every week. You can also rent or purchase over 50,000 popular films and TV episodes from Amazon Instant Video, which has a great selection of films to rent or buy, including new releases and blockbusters. Plus, Prime members enjoy unlimited streaming of over 15,000 popular films and TV shows such as Vikings, Ripper Street, Alpha House, Bosch, and Golden Globe winner Transparent. Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick combine the best content from Amazon and the best content from the other video services customers know and love.

Amazon Fire TV Stick features:

The most powerful streaming media stick—Dual-core processor, 1 GB RAM, and 8 GB storage for fast and fluid navigation and search results. Fire TV Stick has 50% more processing power and 2x the memory of Chromecast. Higher processing power and memory result in faster and more fluid navigation, plus more storage for apps and games. It delivers stunning 1080p HD video and immersive audio with Dolby Digital Plus surround sound.

Small and portable—All of the power of Fire TV Stick comes in an incredibly small package—it is the size of a pack of gum. Fire TV Stick is also the first of the major streaming media players to include support for captive portal web authentication without the need for any additional software, allowing for seamless streaming in major popular hotel chains and some universities.

Simple to set-up and easy to use—Arrives pre-registered so you can simply plug it in, connect to the Internet and start streaming in minutes. Features the same fast and fluid user interface as Amazon Fire TV, with big, beautiful images and easy-to-discover content.

Includes a remote control—Customers have said they want to use a remote control, not just their phones, to watch TV. Use the included remote to easily navigate and discover movies, TV shows, apps, and games.

Free Fire TV Remote App (with Voice Search)—If you prefer to navigate using your phone as a remote control, the Fire TV Remote App for Fire phone, Fire tablets, Android phones and iPhone lets you navigate and manage playback from your phone. The app also features voice search that actually works—it is powered by the same voice search engine as Amazon Fire TV, enabling you to simply speak the name of a movie, TV show, actor, director, or genre into your phone, and you’re done.

Instant streaming with ASAP—No more waiting for your movies and TV shows to buffer—ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction) learns which Amazon movies and TV episodes you’ll want to watch and buffers them for playback before you even hit play, so videos start instantly.

Fling movies and TV shows from your phone or tablet—Fling movies and TV shows from your Second Screen-enabled Fire tablet or Fire phone to Fire TV Stick, turning your TV into the primary screen and freeing up your phone or tablet to provide playback controls, a customized display for X-Ray, or simply a place to email, browse the web, and more, while you watch a movie. Fire TV Stick supports standards like DIAL so you can also fling services like Netflix from your Android phone or iPhone.

X-Ray for movies and TV shows—Using Second Screen on your Fire tablet or Fire phone, you can see X-Ray information as your movie or TV show plays on your TV via Fire TV Stick. See information about cast and crew, the names of songs as they play, as well as a list of music in the movie or TV show, trivia items in context with the action on the screen, and character backstories so you can easily remind yourself of the character’s history. X-Ray is exclusive to Amazon and is powered by IMDb.

Personal photos and videos—Play slide shows and choose your favourite album for the screen-saver on Fire TV Stick. Photos or videos you take on your phone or tablet can be automatically uploaded to Amazon Cloud Drive, so they appear on your Fire TV Stick.

Music in your living room—Listen to music from popular streaming services like Spotify and TuneIn as well as your full collection of music in your Amazon Music Library. Simply upload your music or purchase from Amazon and it will be stored automatically in the Amazon Cloud and available on Fire TV Stick.

Whispersync—Amazon’s Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your video and music library across all of your devices. Start watching a movie on your phone or tablet, and when you get home, pick up where you left off on your TV. For games that support Whispersync, your place in the game will also sync across devices, so you can always pick up where you left off.

Fire TV Stick is available starting today for just £35—customers can pre-order at www.amazon.co.uk/firetvstick, and it will start shipping on 15th April. Fire TV Stick will also be available at Argos, John Lewis and Tesco.

For two days only, Amazon Prime members can pre-order Fire TV Stick for only £19 on Amazon.co.uk. Customers who are new to Prime can sign up for an annual Amazon Prime membership, order Fire TV Stick for just £19 and later receive a refund of £12—meaning the final cost of Fire TV Stick will be just £7.

Customers can also choose to upgrade to the Amazon Fire TV Voice Remote for an additional £24.99.

John is the Editor-in-Chief here and considers himself a connoisseur of all chocolate deep fried (such as the Mars Bar) and Irn Bru. Based just outside of Glasgow in Scotland he is married with 3 young daughters and has always carried a passion for writing technology news since his early days writing as a reviewer and news writer on tracyandmatt.co.uk. You can get in touch with John by emailing john@landoftechnology.com

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